Time tenses are semantic illusion. The 'past' we recall and the 'future' we visualize are simply activities of our imaginative 'present' moments. There is some pleasure and little harm in those activities, unless one believes they are 'real' or unless too much of one's real moments are usurped by these activities.

I awaken in the mornings and think, if only subconsciously, “Hey! THIS is my LIFE. It’s not ‘going to happen someday’. If I miss it now, - I’ve just missed it! If not now, when? The moments of awareness will always only be in and of the Now.

"Even if the taxes are due, the pipes are stopped up, and some of the people I trusted are doing what they do, (which is doing what some of them are going to do!) - my life is alive Now and is what I claim for it as it happens!”

So I just don’t feel guilty or a need to justify it if I claim some of my Now for nourishing my heart, body and soul. Tomorrow, - if it comes, - no one else will know the difference, but if it comes for me, I will!~

Consciously, every day I actually spontaneously say - out loud to myself and the air - “I’m happy!” Because Happy isn’t a by-product of things, possessions, activities, what gets done or doesn't - or what other people do or don’t do. It’s a vital environment within oneself, which radiates out into all the other variables of one's life.

Source

Unless otherwise attributed, all design, graphics and written material herein are original and copyrighted by Nellieanna H. Hay.

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Comments

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Author

Nellieanna Hay 15 months agofrom TEXAS

Lady Fiddler, thank you for visiting my hub and complimenting it. I so believe that it is vital to fully live one's living moments and not be waiting for life to happen.

Joanna Chandler 15 months agofrom On planet Earth

Great words of the wise ;)

Author

Nellieanna Hay 18 months agofrom TEXAS

Yes, they do try to dwell in times which exist only in their memories or in their anticipation, while wasting the living moment which they allow to be consumed with those futile thoughts.

It's much more than a waste of enjoyment of the present, though of course, that is part of it. But it's a total waste of real life and living. What is most tragic is that most of them believe they are being rational trying to bring life to the past or instill it in the future. They actually don't respect the real within their reach, but doubt the value of the here and now! It's most sad and all too prevalent.

Thank you for visiting another of my hubs and leaving a comment about it!

Susan Hazelton 18 months agofrom Summerfield, Florida

Marvelous poems. I was touched especially by your second one. I see so many people looking to the past or the future instead of enjoying their life in the present.

Author

Nellieanna Hay 19 months agofrom TEXAS

Thank you for reading and enjoying, Michael (Dream On). I often need to read, ponder, think and go back and re-read things. I could never be a 'speed reader' because I wallow in the words if they're worth reading. haha.

There is no need to wear yourself out on the pursuit. And no 'rules' need to apply to living in the present. It just IS the only time when we CAN live. We can follow our hearts and interests in looking before and after "now". That is simply what is going on IN the now, - we're thinking back or ahead. There are good reasons for doing that. But we need to stay aware that is what we're doing, not BEING in past or future, but spending our NOW thinking about them.

DREAM ON 19 months ago

I read your hub in parts. Sometimes ten or twenty sections that I read a few lines and then ponder and think. Then go further and do the same. You trigger so many different feelings even though all on the same subject. I only have the now so I had to break my own rule of reading a hub and then all the comments before I post a comment. I would be up for another hour and I am getting tired. Another time I will go back to read all the comments. The reason why I read all the comments I get a good over view of what other people felt and I pause to see how it affected me and why. When reading your hub I can see how much time and effort you put in it. Thank you for reminding us all ...we have this moment and make the best of it and after this moments gone all we have is this moment. Unlike any other point in our lives. All we have lived helped us to get to this moment. Enjoy!!!!!

Author

Nellieanna Hay 24 months agofrom TEXAS

Rdsparrowriter, thank you! I also wish you a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

Author

Nellieanna Hay 24 months agofrom TEXAS

Audrey, my dear friend. So pleased to see you and to know you chose to visit my hub!

If or when we fret then that is how we’ve used our present moments and what we’ve done with them. The key to living more consciously in the present is actually to find it within ourselves and just relax our consciousness about trying to focus on what is NOT before us in the now, which is actually our natural state-of-being which we could always handle IF we’re there in it, simply letting the present events replace imaginary other-time ones and fully participating in them.

The thing about living in the present which finally fully occurred to me is that it is the ONLY ‘time’ one has in which to LIVE. It is only while we are alive in it, that our heart is beating and our breath is going in and out, our mind is able to see solutions and enact them, our system is constantly regenerating itself and responding to the things around us to which we can respond with our touch and which can provide us with living information, scents and sights, with which we can interact as they are also in living progress. There is a dynamic ongoing progression of those precious living moments, and they’re constantly refreshed by the next ones. They had their beginning at birth and they have their cessation at death. That is what LIFE is on and in this earthly life, so full of wondrous gifts of creation. Once they end, those kinds of personal, human living moments are finished and done-with, impossible to relive or re-do. No more editing any of it. Yet, miraculously, while their progression is happening, we have unlimited options IN those moments.

Still, we can and often do choose to use those precious, living moments in imagining other ‘times’, either past or future, in which our imaginations can imaginatively place us or have us as observers, doing imaginary things (including fretting which happens because the actual situations are NOT in the present, so we cannot actually do anything, change any of that or interact with anything in the imagined ‘reality’, except mulling over it in the imaginary, dream-like recesses of our minds, where it cannot dwell, but can fester and disturb our real time and real sleep.

Those imagined times, of course, can seem pleasant or preferable and may seem more pleasant than the alive reality right there all around and within us in the present moments which we’re using to imagine other times and places. But all that can be accomplished in that is the misuse of our real time in which to LIVE, in exchange for dwelling in imagined times and places. Real opportunities to make positive changes and adjustments slip by without any real accomplishment. Then the new moments come and go the same way because we’ve not stopped to dwell in them in reality.

Oh, thinking of past and future has some value. We can be creative in our minds in those moments, of things we can actually do when we return to the present. We can try to glean lessons from the past and try to anticipate possibilities for the future and try to prepare for them. But actual fulfillment and preparation must occur and BE in the present monents. Imaginary preparation is as tenuous as imagined anticipation, but it is a function of the mind which becomes valuable and real when followed-through in real time. The work and the action required must always be accomplished in the currently occurring moments as they exist in their not-so-endless progression which is the substance if our life. A habit of living there is vital. But so are moments invested in the imagination.

There are 43,200 seconds in a day and 15,768,000 seconds in a year. If one lives 60 years, that is 946, 080.000 seconds of living one has to use and enjoy. We need to allow them to be fully lived more than mainly used for imagining time that has no life.

Living in the preset is simply LIVING and being fully alive. It’s not selfishly living for today or to please oneself, as if it were neglecting more important things. It is the only way to attend to the important things, can be spent interacting with others, as well as refreshing one’s souls to have more to give and share. Many of our ailments come with trying to beat the system and live elsewhere. Then our moments must be used getting treating the ailments to be well again. It’s our own system which needs our ongoing attention so that it can function at its maximum. In the end, when we are fully alive, we’re sharing the best of ourselves with our associates and loved ones and within our souls.

Author

Nellieanna Hay 24 months agofrom TEXAS

Ah! Again, dear Venkatachari, I’m in your debt for your encouraging comment. I know he saved me. Certainly not the first time. He expects people to help ourselves, even when it’s difficult, but when it’s impossible, he often steps in.

I’ve many Hubs and many of them are mostly the poetry. Though I’ve not added any new ones recently, there are many worth reading if one has interest. I have plans in the wings for some new ones.

Hi again - Now I must follow your advice Nellieanna. I called my heart doctor, and he has fallen on ice and broke his back. I will live for today and not fret, right. Blessings again. Audrey

Audrey Selig 2 years agofrom Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Hi Nellieanna - You live in the present and enjoy every day. These verses are filled with such desires. Many of us fret over issues too much, and we need to take a lesson from you. You are brave, beautiful, kind, and talented. You have undertaken challenges the rest of us would not touch. You should be proud, and I am proud of you. Thanks for the reminders about living for today and living to please ourselves. Sharing. Blessings, Audrey

Venkatachari M 2 years agofrom Hyderabad, India

Thank you, Nellianna. God is great. He saved you. I hope you should be more careful. I enjoy your writings by landing occasionally. Your blog is also great. I visited it sometime back. Thanks for sharing the reason for your absence. My best wishes for you.

Author

Nellieanna Hay 2 years agofrom TEXAS

My dear Venkatachari, I so appreciate your coming by my hub and leaving such a pleasant and positive comment!

You're right that I've been rather inactive for quite awhile. I had a really bad fall in early April in which I sprained both wrists and barely escaped smashing my head into a brick wall, as I tumbled downhill. Catching myself with my wrists prevented that, so I've been constantly thankful for it.

It did limit many activities but I was able to type in limited amounts. I used those opportunities mostly for keeping in touch with my progeny (and many of my Hubpage friends) on Facebook. My children, grandchildren and great-grands live way off up north, so it's wonderful to keep in touch online., where there has been ample chance to share what I have to give. I'll soon be 84, so I've MUCH to be grateful for.

But meantime, HubPages has been a bit neglected, though I love it and my wonderful, inspiring friends here. There is no other online place like it and not seeing everyone as often is like a hole in my heart. I've many published hubs, which have been visited or revisited while I've been less active. So I'm thankful for that! It's nice to know I'm not forgotten!

Your comment has brought me here to review the other comments, which is so inspiring and refreshing. Thank you for that, as well!

Venkatachari M 2 years agofrom Hyderabad, India

Wow, Nellianna! This is awesome and beautiful. So much enlightening and blissful. I have been much worried of your absence here for many days. Thank God, I found you with a comment on Shanmarie hub, "The Floods of Life". Then I arrived here to see your latest activity. I am very happy now, and your inspirations are so great. Thank you very much.

Author

Nellieanna Hay 2 years agofrom TEXAS

CrisSp, how great to meet you and that you enjoyed my hub! I peeked at your Hubpage, and am eager to peruse further. Your hubs look fascinating.

I've commented on one of your hubs - "Seashells By the Seashore" -Beautiful hub. I became too involved on commenting on another one, so that I need to shorten my comment for it, I'm thinking. I love the depth of your hubs and their obviously being well-researched, organized and beautifully presented.

I'm delighted that you appreciate my poetry and my view on living in the present. I wrote this hub and another hub on "Letting Go" about the same time, awhile ago. They are related perspectives, in my mind

Author

Nellieanna Hay 2 years agofrom TEXAS

Vellur, what a pleasure to see you again! Thank you so much for revisiting!

I've been rather subdued on Hubpages for awhile, due to a couple of things, one being a bad fall in April, resulting in both my wrists being sprained and taking awhile to fully recover use.

CrisSp 2 years agofrom Sky Is The Limit Adventure

Very inspiring and simply delightful to read!

Rdsparrowriter 2 years ago

Beautifully written deep thoughts :) Enjoyed reading your poems :)

Suzette Walker 2 years agofrom Taos, NM

Very beautiful! This is the best poetry I've read about living in the NOW-the present! It truly is a gift!

Nithya Venkat 2 years agofrom Dubai

Came back to read again, great write. Love reading your poems.

Author

Nellieanna Hay 2 years agofrom TEXAS

Dear Nell, I think I'm welcoming you to this hub for the first time, and I do happily welcome you now! I'm glad you like it and find it true! Hugs!

Author

Nellieanna Hay 2 years agofrom TEXAS

Dear Nell, I think I'm welcoming you to this hub for the first time, and I do happily welcome you now! I'm glad you like it and find it true! Hugs!

Nell Rose 2 years agofrom England

I am not sure if I read this before, but I feel as though its the first time. Its Wonderful Nellieanna, and so very true! Shared, nell

You are kind to say those lovely things. It is amazing that mere words strung together can transport much feeling and emotion. Thank you for the votes, too.

Author

Nellieanna Hay 2 years agofrom TEXAS

Harish, thank you for visiting and sharing your insights and your kind appreciation of my efforts.

I’m ruminating on “stuck between the known and the unknown”. That is certainly clear way to think about the present time, which is ‘the known’ and the future, which is, of course, ‘the unknown’ - and unknowable. People tend to try to forecast it, and to the extent of considering logical outcomes of what one is starting in the present, that has value, in order to more likely avoid almost inevitable poor results and possibly to lay foundations for possible good results. But neither outcome can or will be certain or secure, What seems more likely to be happening in the present if one’s attention is too focused on unknowable future is that the precious present moments one does have to use and to live are diluted, if not overlooked and wasted on uncertain and unmanageable thinking about a future or worrying over a past.

Perhaps the Sufi saint Rabia realized that with her present moment in the form of living them positively, she could and would be performing real actions which would strengthen her in meeting each present ‘hurdle’ in its present moment whenever it arrived. She wasn’t fretting about the future or wasting the present. She was being responsive to the present in the constructive way to move forward. Most wonderfully, she fully recognized the uncertainty of future - it could be hot hell or cool heaven, so she would be armed for either or both if and as they occur.

Yes - this existence is a dynamic, moving question. That IS the uncertainty or insecurity of it, that it is alive, existing. The very fact that it is a living, breathing, moving existence means that it is necessarily unknown until it arrives in each moment and that fact IS its very most wonderful gift. It is not static. It continuously provides us with ability to choose, to live so as to enjoy it -or to neglect or damage it so we don’t enjoy it. We are granted power over how we choose to live in the real moments of our lives.

So, the good news is that, as long as we live and breathe, we are not trapped in an unchanging, unchangeable time and place over which we have no choices or ability to improve. - or to destroy, - based on how we can and do invest the present moments life provides. Instead of thinking of the uncertainty of the future as being a burden, we can know it is a blessing which we are able to partake as we choose to embrace each new moment, even moments following poor choices or results. WOW.

Author

Nellieanna Hay 2 years agofrom TEXAS

Audrey — I understand. Some moments seem to bring with them degrees of anxiety. It’s not easy when those are in progress to remind oneself how futile it is to worry or fret about before-the-facts of present occurrence when we will become able to meet them with constructive response when those times have become our living moments. In fact, while worrying about future tangles which are not at present within our power to fix or feeling helpless if the present results are not satisfactory, we’re neglecting our positive influence on and responses to the present moments which we can constructively embrace, including making present choices which may help improve whatever future results may turn out to be. Worrying will not improve their results. Worry can even tear at our health and ability to meet challenges.

There is something truly powerful in simply accepting and welcoming change as it happens, always in present tense, as well as believing in our true power to deal with it when it does happen and is happening, rather than uselessly worrying about things before they may or may not happen or after they’ve happened and are completely inaccessible to change for better or for worse. Better to do what is possible now, including making good choices which are likely to bring good results and to keep oneself whole.

So - go get’m, tiger! You can do it!

Author

Nellieanna Hay 2 years agofrom TEXAS

Jamie, I think at times we all need reminders to fully live our present moments,- some times more than others. It’s not as though we actually have a choice of ‘times’ in which to actually be alive, but we do have a choice of how we regard them, treat them and how well we use and allow them to bring what their truths are to our experience and awarenesses. Sounds like you passed along my thoughts on it via this hub to Audrey Howitt. Thank you.

Author

Nellieanna Hay 2 years agofrom TEXAS

Sujaya venkatesh, hello, and good day to you! Thank you for the welcome visit and lovely comment! It always pleases me to see you here! I hope the year is progressing well for you and yours!

Author

Nellieanna Hay 2 years agofrom TEXAS

Good morning to you, as well, Patricia (pstraube48). I’m so pleased that you received some pleasure from visiting my hub and reading my poetry.

I doubt if you are too much a mouse, though there’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve been referred to as one at times. ;-) I visited your hub about tragedies in your family and how your family has rallied with the spirit of being in the moments with courage and hope. Very inspiring.

Somewhere along the line I read Alan Watts’ “The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety” (among several others of his writings), in which he points out that life itself is insecure by its nature of being alive, moving, capable of change. (not fixed and static in either direction).

That makes such sense and his premise of accepting that fact and freeing oneself of spinning wheels trying to fix and fasten what exists only by being alive and moving, and so, uncertain, is a reality with hope in it. It doesn’t mean not making the present choices which most likely lead to desirable results or avoiding the present choices which are more likely to lead to disaster, - but it accepts that, not only is it impossible to guarantee results one wants, but that BETTER results than one might have known to desire are also possible as life moves into the future, becoming our present, so we are open for improvement with the uncertainty of change, too.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Hugs!

Mary Craig 2 years agofrom New York

Our very own poet laureate sharing her glory in life and showing us how to do the same. Putting the right words together can bring out so much feeling and emotion. Thank you Nell.

Voted up, useful, awesome, and beautiful.

Harish Mamgain 2 years agofrom India

Sometime I think, we are stuck between the known and the unknown. We remain hypnotized by the life and the life beyond. A Sufi saint Rabia took water in her one hand and fire in another. Someone asked what was she going to do with those. She said," I will pour water in the hell and ignite fire in the heaven since both are hurdles on my way to revelation".

Nellienna, this fantastic poetry reminded me of the eternal question of existence. So true are your words, everything happens in the now and everything else is nothing but an illusion cast on our mind. I read such soothing words after awhile. I love your poetry that is so elevating and comforting. I enjoyed it with all my heart and soul. Thank you very much.

Audrey Howitt 2 years agofrom California

I am a worrier! And am in a place of worry now in my life--This was so wonderful to read today--Thank you Jamie for passing this to me today!

Jamie Lee Hamann 2 years agofrom Reno NV

Very inspirational! I needed this today and I am grateful in many ways than one. Jamie

sujaya venkatesh 2 years ago

good poetry

Patricia Scott 2 years agofrom sunny Florida

Nellieanna, good morning

You carefully crafted poems for us to ponder and consider and your point is so well expressed...it is such a gift to weave a tapestry of words in poetic form...a talent I do not possess. So I find myself enthralled as I read writings such as yours that are so captivating.

The 'mousie' in the 'housie' ...O perhaps I am one.

And as for me and mine...we embrace each day and live it fully...not waiting for tomorrow or some distant time to do and see and experience all...today is our reality.

Thank you for sharing. Angels are on the way to you today

Voted up and shared ps

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

Dear Vellur ~ It can seem difficult to begin to live in the present if one has been accustomed to feeling the need to tangle with the past. But living the NOW that IS in progress is the way to assure that those which follow will be freer to be lived for themselves, too. While we are ever dwelling in the past, what seems to be sacrificed is the present which is being subjugated to past disappointments and regrets. Of course, we want to remember our past overall as that which has made us the wondrous person we ARE, and to re-enjoy its joys as wonderful memories. But we must remember that they are simply only 'alive' at all IN our present moment given over to them, and that they are forever static and not able to live and be altered. What IS to be lived and altered is only the present. The future cannot be, nor can the past. If we let memory and anticipation take over the present, we are giving up the real living of our lives. It's not so much that we must tear ourselves away from past or future thoughts and concentrate on the now, as if it were a choice. It IS what IS and when we become fully aware of that, it simply expresses itself as it should. We notice everything about it, from the most insignificant things to the most amazing things and we FEEL ourselves living them. We become fully AWARE and more ALERT to live going on. It is not only the best way to live life, it is literally the ONLY easy to really, actually LIVE it. When that is clear, we realize that it is the 'Eternal Now'. What else can it be?

Thank you so much for your wonderful comments and awareness.

Nithya Venkat 3 years agofrom Dubai

Living life in the moment is the best way to live life, though sometimes difficult because the past always catches up with you and it is up to us to concentrate in the now. Great write. Voted up.

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

Thank you so much for visiting the hub and letting me know you like it, John! Hugs.

John Marshall 3 years agofrom glasgow

Beautiful piece of writing,really enjoyed it.

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

Mike, all I can say is to smile. I'm not surprised that you're onto me by now! ;-)

You're one heck of a guy! Hugs.

mckbirdbks 3 years agofrom Emerald Wells, Just off the crossroads,Texas

That is one heck of a pep talk. Hi Nellianna.

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

Thank you, Deb. I'm pleased you enjoyed and got a smile from that piece. I've expressed my perceptions about the tenses in many ways.

It's about such a basic and simple fact, but the human ability to remember and think about the non-alive past and to anticipate and think about the non-alive future seems to entice our focus and attention into overlooking and devaluing the reality and living dynamics of the present.

When we're focusing on past and future, we are simply investing our actual fully alive and active present in what has concluded and what has never been, along with our tendencies to add various embellishments to these illusions which are available in highlighting non-existent subjects which cannot contradict whatever qualities with which our minds can paint and clothe them. It has entertainment value, even educational value, but has no dynamic active value of its own, except as used to dramatize stories and art being created in the present. Nothing wrong with using them like that, so long as we don't attempt to or imagine that we actually live in those illusions.

However, we humans often prefer what is no longer and what is not yet - to what IS. Vast formal systems emerged and are based on those illusions, in fact, and claim to be the real time and real value. One can hardly dismiss them, considering their effect and power; and perhaps need not dismiss them, so long as the basic facts are not forgotten and undermined. ;-)

Now I'm smiling. . . . and have descended my soapbox.

Deb Hirt 3 years agofrom Stillwater, OK

Beautiful work, as always, and I especially enjoyed the piece about the tenses. That really brought a smile to my face.

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

Anna, I’m especially honored and thankful for your response, knowing as I do your expertise in language and writing, as well as your excellent taste. You’ve obviously keen grasp and possession of life-understanding, as well. Thank you!

Anna Haven 3 years agofrom Scotland

Nellieanna you write so elegantly and profoundly.

You seem to have found the truths of life and you manage to encapsulate them in your words.

We only have the moment. Time is ephemeral and the fidgety soul looking all around with regret or impatience will never find peace, only lost chances.

Your poetry has such depths and it whispers the words of an enlightened soul. Beautiful work.

Anna :)

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

My dear Ken ~ you describe living each moment well.

Yes, it does bring a sense of being happy and contented, but that is partly because it simply lives both the ups and downs fully in their own moments, rather than dragging them out beyond those real moments. Allowing them to occupy the moment in which they are the moment's activities gives one a sense of accomplishment and closure to them and opens the way for new life-moments that follow. Living in the now is not a magic cure for the ‘downs’, but a vital, on-going solution to them, living them and leaving them behind, not to be fretted over & to continue wrestling with, but to have lived successfully and, as you so aptly say - lived thankfully that is has been gotten through.

You can’t believe how joyous I am to know you are fully engaged in your moments now. Of course, any of our moments may come to a stop but while in progress they all have their full length. There is no ‘short’ or ‘long’ to a moment. It simply IS and is alive.

I feel so keenly that living while alive is sensible, I cannot help but mention it - often. haha. Glad if it gives anyone food for thought! Thank you for your heart-felt response!

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

Ed, of course, life and survival exact their prices, but to our benefit, after all. We're reborn out of it, and then to ourselves.

Grace and dignity are already within you, my friend. You demonstrate them all the time. And, yes, there is a recognition one soul has for another, for sure. Sometimes the view is clouded and then, when the reality around one in the actual moment is noticed, it clears it up. It’s the best place to be. :-)

Thank you for such a lovely comment, dear poet.

Ken Snowdon 3 years ago

The sooner we can appreciate every breath we take, every waking moment like it was our last, and each time we plant our feet on the floor beside our bed and rise from stretching to a new day, with an attitude of gratitude and saying I'm Happy then we will never feel full contentment in our lives.

This is something most humans struggle with throughout most of our lives. I know I have! it hasn't been until the last 15 years that I finally let much of life run off my back like waters off a ducks. I have become an optimist, realist and spiritualist. I take every day as it comes, appreciate it and thankful to get through it.

Your opening stanza about the ants is so true. Too many of us have missed the picnic. I am enjoying every moment I have now, they may be short, but I must make them full moments. You my dear are so wise and many of us can learn from your words and verse so poignantly expressed here. Thank you for sharing them as always in your brilliant manner. Hugs

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

Rasma, dear friend, thank you for visiting and commenting! It brightens my day. Glad you enjoyed. Thank you for the vote too!

ahorseback 3 years ago

Nellieanna ! Once again laying the beauty of the life , the hour , the moment [right now ] out before us ! I'm so sure that even for you these wizened enlightenments have come at a heavy price . Thank you , thank you , for showing us that grace and dignity are waiting patiently for even the likes of me !....And to your beautiful words . Simply amazing !....As a man I am reminded of the occasion when I spot in someone that very light of this very enlightening presence . To be one with the hour !......Be well my amazing artist!.......Ed

Gypsy Rose Lee 3 years agofrom Riga, Latvia

Voted up and beautiful. A creatively delightful journey. Enjoyed.

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

Dear Wayne. A unique compliment, and a quite pleasant one. Perhaps ‘sweet’ is somewhat debatable but ‘silky’ and ‘silken’ call to mind something smooth, lustrous, fine, glossy, and, perhaps, persuasive when applied to words. So if my words are like that in beneficial ways, I’m very pleased! If it's beautiful, also, all the better! Thank you, and especially thank you for coming by! It’s always a pleasure to hear from you.

Wayne Barrett 3 years agofrom Clearwater Florida

Silky sweet, like my friend, Nellieanna. Beautiful verse my dear!

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

Thank you, Shan, for your probing thoughts in response to my hub. Each of us has his or her own way of relating to things, They needn’t be explicable to everyone else. We writers do try to express it as we see it, though and it is the bonus if it is fathomed by others. It’s even good if it merely stimulates them to think of their own perspective on it. How frequently someone sees his or her own feelings in a poem I’ve written and I can see they are not identical to mine in it, but that’s OK. It’s being shared. That invisible bridge between hearts and souls is being built, even though the terrain on either end of the bridge is individual, not identical. That makes it all the more valuable.

shanmarie 3 years ago

Ah, Nellieanna, I told you I already read this wonderful hub of yours and that it reminded me of others with this attitude, but I haven't commented yet. You peg me as someone with words to spare, but sometimes I really don't know how to say what it is I feel or to articulate concepts that are not fully explainable to anyone other than myself, not that they're totally inexplicable.

This hub reminds me of those people, songs, ideas because it is a timeless concept. And it is one that I adore. But, living in the present in the sense that remembering to relish every day is not always easy and it is often a choice to do so. Maybe a choice that becomes habit, but still a choice nonetheless.

Sometimes I know that I come across to certain people as not caring about certain things or events - seemingly abnormal reactions, I guess. And other times, I almost fear my decisions of a moment appear reckless and maybe they sometimes are. But, whatever happens as a result of my decisions or otherwise, I've learned to accept things as they are and not to think too much about the future. Or not to live for it, rather. If that makes sense. It's not to say that I don't have some concerns for the future, hopes, dreams, or goals.

I think that with things I've been through, I would not be the same person had I not learned to cling to hope and joy. There is beauty even in the darkest of moments even when it does not seem like it at the time.

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

LadyGuinevere! Yes, it has been quite awhile! I’ve wondered where you were and what you were doing. Occasionally I’ve seen mention of you, but I’ve missed the times when we exchanged comments often! I’ve been a bit ‘away’ for a little while myself, compared to my usual presence on HP, but I can’t live without it, it seems. haha

Oh, yes, a characteristic of the present moment is its uniqueness. It can never be relived or repeated exactly as it is right now. It can be remembered as it is in some present moment of its own, but it can’t be felt and it can’t be changed or repeated the exact same way because its reality has been replaced with the moment which is now.

It’s one more reason to live the present moments to their fullest and then to let them go into memory so that the new moments can also be embraced and given full life!

The good news is that each moment brings with it, its own uniqueness and opportunity to be fully lived while it's 'here' before it becomes past and the one ahead which was future, becomes the the new alive present which is the real time now to be lived!

Thank you for making my hub one of your stops on your return! Hugs!

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

My dear Genna. How is it that you inevitably key in so accurately to what I am trying to say? Yes - knowing and experiencing our present time is knowing and experiencing life itself. That is it! Thank you. Hugs.

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

Hello, KenDeanAgudo. Thank you for finding and visiting my hub. Since I’ve not met you on HP before, I took a peek at your hub page; Very interesting and quite practical articles you’ve written, with some poetry sprinkled through. I’ll know where to look for information on an amazing array of subjects, as well as where to find some genuinely heart-felt poetic expressions! I want to read more of your work!

My view of time tenses - past, present and future - is more realistic than dreamy, though. The simple truth is that the only time experienced while one has the ability to direct or shape it is the present. One may invest some of this present moment in remembering the past as one has experienced it or as history has recorded it, and one may use the present contemplating a possible or probably future as one can personally imagine it or as others predict it, but neither any past events nor future uncertainties can be actually lived and effected with one's will and one's action except during their present times, when they have occurred or when they may or may not ever occur.

The past when it existed WAS the present and the future when and if it ever exists will be the present. For human beings, at least, the present is our only real time.

I like to dream and conjure possibilities of parallel time and circular time as much as anyone. But the basic fact is that I can only do even that as an activity of my own 'right now', present moments. I suspect that those of us who must write have a greater need to preserve the past and contemplate the future than many other people do. We do it as activities of our NOW. It's surely one of humans' most intriguing attributes that we have the ability to remember and look forward. It may also be our biggest temptation to miss or misuse the actual time we share with all other living creatures, who are not tempted by the illusions of past and future.

I think that if my words feel real to you it is because they are and you sense the nature of time and life, too. Anyway - I like your comment very much and thank you for it.

Debra Allen 3 years agofrom West By God

It has been like forever that I read your poetry and it is excellent. I have been away from Hubpages fore a while now and an just getting back to it. You are right in all your poems here that now will never happen this way ever again.

Genna East 3 years agofrom Massachusetts, USA

Mañana, mañana, mañana…oh that ever elusive tomorrow that never seems to arrive. I love how your words capture the very essence of “someday.” It may be whimsical or wistful, but what we miss we cannot know until it is replaced with regret. To know the moment and to experience each day as it arrives is to know the miracle of life. Beautiful work, dear Nellieanna, as always. :-)

Kenneth C Agudo 3 years agofrom Tiwi, Philippines

Wow You have a vivid dream and illusion of the past and future based on your poems and description here on your newest hub. I feel that you are just talking to me and i feel blimey about it.

Great passion!

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

Cat, I've followed you enough to notice your respect for life and the natural order of things and going with its flow, - (in contrast with creating artificial substitutes and choices, which seem to clog it up.)

But. yes, it is a gripping tendency shared by many, at least at times, to get into a mode of fretting that nothing can happen without one’s tight hold and firm control, - or else- - what? The Earth will stop spinning? The rainbow will be visible in only black and white? - What? (wink). This tendency has gripped me at times, for sure.

But, yes, it can feel like an urgent necessity to stay in charge, can’t it? Yet at the end if the day it seems that the harder one grips it, often the less “it” cooperates and the more damage to one's truest being and happiness, so that we must simply unlearn a very strong sense of responsibility for all that happens or which will ever happen; - to 'let go' as you so aptly call it. Nobody died and left me in charge of it all! haha

Thank you, but I’m not sure whether it’s wisdom we learn along the journey or self-preservation, but sharing helps, we hope!

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

Dear Blossom, Thank you so much! Ah yes, the melting clock imagery says several things. That time seems to race by so fast, as you noted, which is especially “timely”. There’s also the realization that time is an arbitrary relative measurement, as are most of our human attempts to grasp and measure things, and somehow to have dominion over them,- from inches to weights, all of which are simply finding comparisons which still may fluctuate, depending on other factors and circumstances. Weight depends on the pull of gravity which varies by location and in various media. Distances vary with the eye’s ability to perceive depth and height, involving another intriguing concept, - subjective perception. We like to think things more manageable, perhaps, though life essentially is an insecure state of being.

Catherine Tally 3 years agofrom Los Angeles

Hi Nellieanna! It's taken me a long time to set aside my tendency to fret and to let go. What a joy it is to savor the here and now instead of ruining it w/ yesterday's regrets and tomorrow's uncertainties!

I love this and your creative presentation. So much wisdom to share!

All the best,

Cat:)

Bronwen Scott-Branagan 3 years agofrom Victoria, Australia

Beautifully written and I especially love that image of the melting clock - where does that time go??

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

Dear Manatita! How great to see you! Thank you. Yes, - awareness that it IS the Eternal Now is the great revelation. It gives perspective beyond the trivial. And it really is what IS. That ‘time’ is timeless and eternal. So simple, yet profound. The major awareness for the human BEING.

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

Martie, dear CD! Yes - it’s so. It really is a prime lesson to be learned and facilitated every moment of one's life on Earth if one is to be into living this life!

Yes, of course, - it means living all the vicissitudes that come with each brand-new moment, the ups and downs all built upon it’s planetary history and our own life choices up till then.

The great news is that right here and now, in each new moment, is another pristine chance to choose to continue to build our history of life with benefit of experience and the enlightenment that comes with really BEING THERE and participating fully! We can let go of extraneous hindrances within and without, embrace what we CAN DO, as opposed to fretting over whatever we can't do right then. We get to choose consciously and live the steps fully, being actually alert, aware, and alive to everything around us in actual progress.

If we have lessons to be learned by it (which we always do and will so long as one moment follows another), we get to do that with greater vision and wisdom, - and all the joy we possess, and little if any sense of impending gloom or regret, because we're not attempting to dwell in the past or to live the future beforehand. We are empowered by knowing we can and will be fully into it when it does come, if it does, -- with all its surprises and unforeseen stuff.

We don't have to carry our baggage any further than we choose, if & when we find it useless and tiresome. Or we can use it to write or create useful insights for others if they're able to see it. What freedom!

I guess it’s called ‘living’, that very changeable, unpredictable, delightful, implacable, unbiased condition called LIFE. We are among the features which add many of our own ruts, sad outcomes, biases and irreversible consequences to it. — But the good news is that, if we have embraced it, most of that becomes just parts of what it IS, and manageable in retrospect and in whatever results come with the now.

We know that we wouldn’t prefer it to be static (or so-called ‘perfect’) or we’d have no real reason to keep at it! We don't prefer its pits and valleys, perhaps but we know we need and can use them for ascending its peaks and perspectives.

Love you, kid. You have such great insight! Thank you for sharing it here!

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

Hi, breakfast pop! How dear of you to visit my hub and leave me such an encouraging comment! Hope all is well with you. You seem to have been quite busy yourself. Been awhile since I’ve seen you! Too long!

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

Dear Shauna, Oh yes! How totally right you are! It’s not only what matters, but we fool ourselves if we count on any other time or place instead.

We hope to proceed into the next now and probably will. We usually can and will go to other places. But then we will find that they’ll only be the here and now, just like the one we’re experiencing. How we've used this one will have set our pattern for how we'll use any next ones.

Unless we’ve learned to make each of them tingle with our visceral, spiritual, intellection life and our full focus, they will just slip away without being fully experienced and used, too.

All too sadly, so much of our training from birth on is to equip us for doing just that: ignoring now and pressing toward something else, somewhere else and some time else. We're encourage to be always preparing for. . . - but oblivious to each moment's arrival to the point of disregarding and/or discounting it.

It’s such a pity that most people live lives without awareness and embracing the reality of life as it occurs! We’ve been taught to choose and prefer what is NOT over what IS. Our ‘success or failure’ in life is actually judged by how well we’ve learned to reject our moments in preference and preparation for some illusive thing that hasn’t happened and may never happen! Not to say that choosing to study and prepare or to make a family or to care for the planet are not good present-moment choices, but each should be THE thing we embrace and embue with our whole vital being for its own sake while it is in progress. When and if an outcome or result follows the one at hand, ushering in its own moment, we’ll know how to embrace and live it, as well!

It's then that we find each moment full and rewarding, worth our notice and our full participation!

Yes, yes! Hugs and thank you for your confirmation of this!

manatita44 3 years agofrom london

You repeat the words of great Souls, Nellieanna. So necessary for today and quite timeless at the same time. May we all serve and be inspired to love while living in the Eternal Now.

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

Thank you for the visit and your lovely comment, BigJ! And I’m happy to have discovered your Hubsitei~! (Note to the rest of you who drop by, if you’ve not visited his Hubsite, please do!)

Author

Nellieanna Hay 3 years agofrom TEXAS

Dear John/Jodah - Thank you, my friend~! Glad you like it! It always pleases me when you approve. I’ve been very busy and have had to focus elsewhere, but hoping to get caught up on HP. I miss it too much and can’t do without it for long!

Martie Coetser 3 years agofrom South Africa

Nellieanna - how to live in the present is a lesson for all of us to learn - if we haven't yet learned it. The present - NOW - is truly a gift. I remember a time when I have ignored NOW because my attention was on the future - sometimes only on the next month, or the next important event on the calendar. Then there was a time my attention was on the past. Both times I have ended up in a terrifying state of anxiety/depression. But finally, in 2001, I have acquired the needed wisdom and emotional skills to grab a day and to make the best of it. Every hour of the day has its own ups and downs; the present is sometimes calm and peaceful, and sometimes exiting and even terrifying like a roller-coaster, but when we enjoy it as it comes, whether it makes us laugh or cry, we finally discover the true wonder of life and being alive.

Voted up, awesome, profound and inspiring :)

breakfastpop 3 years ago

You are incredibly talented and brilliant. I especially love the phrase, "some miss the picnic waiting for the ants." I'll remember that always. Up, beautiful, useful and awesome.

Shauna L Bowling 3 years agofrom Central Florida

Nellieanna, the here and now is what matters. We must embrace each moment the comes as each moment passes.

This is so beautiful and so profound. I love the line about missing the picnic by waiting for the ants. Brilliant!